Back in 1938, an exasperated theater owner named Harry Brandt coined the term “box office poison’’ for a trade journal jeremiad about a group of Hollywood stars “whose dramatical [sic] ability is unquestioned, but whose box office draw is nil.’’ Among the names he dropped: Greta Garbo, Marlene Dietrich, Mae West, Joan Crawford, Katharine Hepburn and Fred Astaire.

Nearly eight decades later, we have a generation of “stars’’ whose box office draw is nil outside of their participation in megabucks franchise films — and whose limited “dramatical ability’’ nobody in their right minds is comparing with the screen legends on Mr. Brandt’s famous list.

Among the faintly shining stars in this 21st-century firmament is Chris Pine, the somewhat wooden (sorry) actor who portrayed Captain Kirk in the hugely successful 2009 “Star Trek’’ reboot (which grossed $386 million worldwide) and its two sequels, the second of which hits theaters this summer. He is currently filming “Wonder Woman’’ for 2017 release, cast as the title character’s significant other, Steve Trevor. That sounds about right.

Pine’s most recent movie — forgotten by anyone who actually heard of it since its release less than two months ago — was in the news yesterday. Disney CEO Robert Iger told an investors conference that “The Finest Hours’’ — with Pine top-billed as a real-life Coast Guard skipper who saved two dozen men during a nor’easter — would post a loss of “around $75 million’’ for the Mouse House.

Like a number of other franchise stars, Pine has graced stinkers like the $54 million, 2012 action rom-com “This Means War.’’ Even teamed with a pair of more respected actors (Reese Witherspoon and Tom Hardy), it broke even at best with a worldwide gross of $156 million.

Pine’s low-wattage solo star power failed to relaunch another franchise for Paramount in 2014, with “Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit’’ returning only $51 million on a $60 million budget in North America, and barely breaking even at best when overseas revenues are added.

His best box-office performance outside “Star Trek’’ is the 2014 musical “Into the Woods’’ ($213 million worldwide), in which he didn’t have much to do but smile and croak his way through a couple of songs as Cinderella’s prince. That’s not counting his voice work in the animated “Rise of the Guardians,’’ a notorious flop that generated barrels of red ink despite a worldwide gross of $306 million.

Pine is hardly the only munificently paid actor in this gilded boat — or even the only one with the same first name. Chris Hemsworth (who briefly appeared as the other Chris’ dad in “Star Trek’’) may be a draw as Thor in Marvel epics, but audiences tend to stay away in droves when studios try to leverage his name for more serious fare.

Just last year, Hemsworth bookended the highly successful “Avengers: Age of Ultron’’ with two of the year’s biggest flops: the hacker thriller “Blackhat’’ ($20 million worldwide gross on a reported budget of $70 million) and the whale-hunting adventure “In the Heart of the Sea’’ ($94 million worldwide, for a film whose budget exceeded $100 million, not including marketing costs).

Even actors with better acting chops than the Chrises are not immune from this distressing phenomenon, as studios struggle to “build up’’ stars who have minimal followings outside of their franchise movies. (Jennifer Lawrence may be the most successful graduate of the franchise school — sorry, Christian Bale — but she had already bagged a Best Actress Oscar nomination for “Winter’s Bone’’ before “The Hunger Games’’ came along.)

Ryan Reynolds was notorious for fronting a long series of flops (including such high-profile disasters as “Green Lantern’’ and “RIPD”) until he finally scored big with the Marvel adaptation “Deadpool.’’ But does this mean Reynolds will suddenly be able to open an expensive non-franchise movie?

History suggests that studios will think so, but I’d bet not. Reynolds’ most recent movie, the excellently reviewed indie “Mississippi Grind,’’ has a reported worldwide gross of . . . $130,541. Which I’d wager is less than the catering budget for his next movie will be.